Archaeometric investigations of stable and radioisotopes have, since the establishment of radiometric dating methods in the 1950s, become increasingly common in archaeological investigations. From analyses of local herding practices to broader models of past climate, new work continues to highlight the potentials for isotopic analyses in reconstructions of ancient social, political, and cultural practices. These advances are possible because interdisciplinary approaches are integrating archaeological and isotopic data, thus avoiding theunproductive "gap" between archaeology and the natural and physical sciences. This AIA colloquium aims to draw examples of these new applications into dialogue, examining the limitations and challenges of isotopic research, while also exploring its potential to answer social, economic, and political questions about the ancient world.

We invite abstracts from a broad range of perspectives that emphasize the integration of isotopic and archaeological data from all regions of the ancient Mediterranean world, extending from earliestprehistory. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): tracking mobility and movement of faunal and human populations, diet and foodways, palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental proxies, compositional analysis of materials, radiometric analysis, and residue analysis. Papers should either consider methodological aspects (e.g. how to effectively collect and collate isotopic data for archaeological applications; statistical approaches that are useful in presenting, analyzing and interpreting data in archaeological pursuits; limitations of isotopic analyses), or present current research projects employing isotopic approaches to answer archaeological research questions. Papers that link explicit archaeological questions with isotopic data and methods (rather than simply showing isotopic data-points) will be given priority.

Anonymous abstracts of no more than 400 words should be sent to archisotope@gmail.com, with identifying information in the email. Abstracts must follow the AIA guidelines, copied below. In the body of the email, please confirm that you are a current AIA member. The deadline for submission of abstracts is5pm March 4, 2014. Once a panel with AIA member contributions is composed, it will be submitted to AIA for approval.

AIA guidelines for abstracts:The title of a proposed presentation should indicate its specificcontent in clear terms. The abstract must not exceed 400 words and must conform to the "AIA Style Guidelines for Annual Meeting Abstracts," available in PDF format in the Annual Meeting section of the AIA website.

http://aia.archaeological.org/pdfs/annualconference/AIA_Style_Guidelines.pdf.The research described should be referred to in the present tense rather than in the future tense. (e.g., "I present an analysis of three sealed deposits," rather than, "I will present an analysis of three sealed deposits."). While limited use of in-text citations (in author:year format) is acceptable, bibliographical references and footnotes should not be included and will be removed.

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Archaeometry

This blog is about archaeometry, or archaeological science: the application of methods of the natural sciences to archaeology. It is endorsed by the Society for Archaeological Sciences. Moderated by Destiny Crider.